Fox Cities aboard on wellness

Dozens of employers working to get people healthy

Jan. 20, 2013

The Seelig family of Clintonville enjoy an active life and push each other to be healthy. A total of 49 businesses, large and small, are taking part in Well City Fox Cities, an initiative launched in late fall 2009, designed to get businesses to work together to build healthier communities. / Ron Page/The Post-Crescent

Written by

Larry Avila

Post-Crescent business editor

Well City initiative

Well City USA was launched in 1991 by the Wellness Council of America, a non-profit organization, to get businesses to work together to build healthier communities, starting in the workplace. Participating businesses will be provided with training, resources and support to develop work site wellness programs. More information is at www.welcoa.org. The organizational process for the Well City Fox Cities effort began in fall 2009. There are 49 Fox Cities businesses participating in the initiative today. For more information, visit www.wellcityfoxcities.com.

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Wellness and encouraging healthy lifestyles no longer is a trend happening across Fox Cities businesses. It’s the norm.

Forty-nine businesses, large and small, are taking part in Well City Fox Cities, an initiative launched in late fall 2009. The program is an effort of the Wellness Council of America to get businesses to work together to build healthier communities.

Fox Cities organizers want to take the next step and become a designated Well City. That means at least 20 of the participating companies need to be designated wellness award winning firms by the council and those businesses have to employ about 20 percent of the Fox Cities’ work force or roughly 33,000 people.

A total of 15 businesses have received either a gold or silver award from the council, said Stephanie Lyons, a member of the Well City Fox Cities committee and senior human resources representative at papermaker Appleton. She’s confident more businesses will apply for award status so the Fox Cities can apply for the Well City designation by May.

“We’ve been hearing a lot of individual success stories from the participating companies,” she said. “People reporting that individuals are dropping their blood pressure medications and exercising more.”

Lyons said wellness efforts at her company have touched many people.

“Employees are excited about the idea that the company wants to help them make healthier choices and just be healthier,” she said. “It’s really been a morale boost and the employees get excited about it and ask for more.”

Intervention's impact

The wellness council estimates that for every $150 invested per employee in wellness programs, it eventually will yield a $3:1 to $16:1 return on insurance premiums, absenteeism, workers compensation and overall employee morale.

Pittsburgh-based Highmark Inc., an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, released the results of a four-year study in 2011 that showed about 47 businesses, offering health coverage and wellness programs to about 10,000 people, on average saved about $332 per person. Highmark reported that even minimal intervention, including offering online resources about healthy choices, made an impact on health care costs.

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Menasha-based Network Health Plan also reported success among its customers who also utilized its Millennium wellness program. Savings typically averaged about $400 per man, woman and child in the program.

Sandy Panzer, vice president of health services at Appleton-based ThedaCare, said the health system has stepped up its wellness efforts the past several years.

“Over the last five to seven years, we’ve invested a lot of time and money into helping our employees become healthier,” she said.

ThedaCare has offered health risk assessments to its workers. It also has offered programs to employees on weight loss, exercising and quitting smoking.

Panzer said ThedaCare recently launched a program called Lifestyle 180, a wellness program piloted by the Cleveland Clinic.

She said the program is designed to teach people to turn their lives around by making smart choices from everything to exercise and eating.

“They learn about proper exercise, how to cook, and they get coaching from nutrition counselors,” she said. “It’s multifaceted.”

Panzer wellness has impacted ThedaCare’s health care costs. She didn’t disclose an amount but said the organization credits wellness initiatives for dropping the company’s average health risk score by 10 points.

“If we do not take care of our own employees, how can we help the community be healthier,” Panzer said.

Worth the effort

Amie Strange, human resources manager at Galloway Co. in Neenah, also serves on the Well City Fox Cities committee.

Strange said the early stage of the Well City program focused on recruiting. That continued into 2011 but the past year focused on providing businesses with resources to launch wellness programs.

Businesses nationally looked for ways to curb health care costs in 2012. The Society for Human Resource Managers said U.S. businesses could expect to see health care costs increase an average of 6.3 percent this year.

SHRM said employers on average can expect to pay about $11,188 on health care per employee in 2013, up from $10,522 in 2012. Average employee contributions were expected to reach $2,385, up from $2,204 in 2012, the association said.

Strange said the Well City program has spread beyond the participating businesses.

She said many school districts across the Fox Cities also are active in the Well City program.

“We’re reaching the families of the people who work for those businesses and organizations,” Strange said. “If kids are learning the benefits of healthier living early on, they’ll be better off in the long run.”

Lyons said the Well City committee will continue helping companies earn awards from the wellness council even if the Fox Cities doesn’t receive the community designation this year.

“When you walk down the halls and just hear people talking about wellness or saying they plan to take a walk during their lunch break, you can’t help but walk away smiling knowing you helped someone make a healthier choice,” Lyons said.